American West Heritage Center Presents Pioneer Festival the Pioneer Way
On Saturday, July 21, the American West Heritage Center, Hwy 89-91 in Wellsville, celebrates Pioneer Day the pioneer way at its Spirit of ’47 Pioneer Jubilee. This family-friendly festival will feature historically accurate, celebratory activities in which pioneers would have engaged between 1848 and 1870. They’re also throwing in a few other heritage-based events as well. Special guests of the Pioneer Jubilee include colorful pioneer legend Orrin Porter Rockwell (re-enacted by Brad Jones), members of the Mormon Battalion, and long-time Heritage Center favorite Dr. Quaquenbusch, with his fabulous potions and medicines. The festival proper begins at 10 am and ends at 5 pm, but there are events that take place before and after these times.
Additionally, the festival will sport an early morning Pioneer Run cross country race at 7 am. The race will feature a 1mile run and a 5K run for all levels of runners. Each runner will receive a t-shirt; prizes will be given to runners in various divisions. Participants may register by contacting the Heritage Center or visiting its website.
Other activities include relaxing at the first ever Pioneer Spa, a pioneer children’s parade, a Wild West Marbls Tournament, panning for gold, old-fashioned pioneer photos, horse team driving competitions, pioneer sports, gunfighter activities, and other events. Some visitors may shed a tear of joy at the pioneer wedding re-enactment with music presented by the Willow Valley Revival Singers.
In the evening, visitors can enjoy a Handcart Progressive Dinner where calories can be burned as they are eaten (reservations required). The dinner features an appetizer at one location, salad at another, the entree at another, and lastly a glorious pioneer dessert. Families push and pull handcarts to each location. Prices for the dinner are $6 per person or $20 per family.
“As one of the premiere living history organizations in the West, we are so thrilled to be putting on this little festival,” exclaimed David Sidwell, Program Director at the Heritage Center. “Pioneers celebrated Pioneer Day as soon as one year after they arrived in Utah! We have done research as to how they celebrated, and we’re trying to do many of these things in fun ways during this one day event. It was a family event 150 years ago, and we’re trying to make it fun for all ages today.”
“Putting on a pioneer celebration is a natural outcome for us,” indicated Steve DeLong, Executive Director, “We have a perpetual living history pioneer site, and this is a great extension of what we already do here on a daily basis.”
Special guest Orrin Porter Rockwell, as portrayed by Brad Jones, was a colorful figure of the Wild West period of American History and a law man in the Utah Territory. Nicknamed Old Port and labeled “the Destroying Angel of Mormondom”, during his lifetime he was as famous and controversial as Jesse James, Butch Cassidy, Wyatt Earp, or Pat Garrett. in 1870, American journalist and author Fitz Hugh Ludlow stated, “Porter Rockwell was that most terrible instrument that can be handled by fanaticism; a powerful physical nature welded to a mind of very narrow perceptions, intense convictions, and changeless tenacity. In his build he was a gladiator; in his humor a Yankee lumberman; in his memory a Bourbon; in his vengeance an Indian. A strange mixture, only to be found on the American continent.”
The Mormon Battalion, also featured at the festival, was a volunteer unit of 500 soldiers, led by regular military officers. The battalion made one of the longest and grueling marches in U.S. military history from Council Bluffs, Iowa to San Diego, California. The Mormon Battalion were mostly members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who were fleeing religious persecution in Nauvoo, Illinois. The battalion’s long march across the western U.S. was instrumental in helping secure new lands in several Western states. The march also opened a new southern wagon route to California.
Another special guest, Dr. Quaquenbusch, is another favorite at the American West Heritage Center. He, along with his “medicine show,” had been long-time celebrities at the Festival of the American West. He was first played by Larry Cantwell, a legendary drama enthusiast of Cache Valley who passed away due to an automobile accident. The good doctor is played this year by Dan Merket, another well known Northern Utah performer and acting teacher. This year, visitors can expect Dr. Quaquenbusch to sell more of his potions, including “Chlorodyne,” approved by J. Collist Browne himself, “Madam Rowley’s Toilet Mask or Facial Glove” (rumors have it that it looks like blue silly putty), and the most famous of all Cache Valley medicines: “Dr. Pierce’s Favorite Prescription (The Women’s Tonic)” as advertised on a landmark barn on highway 89-91 south of Logan. Backing him up are members of the Rendezvous Creek Players, the Heritage Center’s very own performance troupe. The Players will also be presenting Wild West Shakespeare: Hamlet and The Pesky Raccoon. All shows have been directed by DeAnn Johnson, who has been a long-time theatre participant in many Northern Utah community productions over the years.
For more information about the Pioneer Jubilee, to register for the Pioneer Run cross country race or horse driving competitions, reserve Handcart Progressive Dinner tickets, or volunteer at the festival, contact the Heritage Center at (435) 245-6050 or visit their website: www.awhc.org .